GUJRAT: The local civic authorities have started rehabilitation of ‘Wall of Gujrat’, a monument in the city, by removing the publicity material displayed there, besides cleaning the greenbelt in front of it.

The monument had fallen a victim to official neglect as local transporters displayed their publicity material on a portion of the wall, whereas the greenery around it had also been damaged because of lack of care.

On Saturday, the sanitary staff of the Gujrat Municipal Corporation (MC) washed the entire wall after removing the publicity material from there, while garders mowed the grass and pruned plants on the green belt.

The wall was developed as a part of the city’s beautification plan around five years ago. It was undertaken as a public-private partnership initiative, in collaboration with the local business community, with a cost of Rs12.5 million.

Prior to its conversion into a monument, the area had long been a landfill site in front of the general bus stand.

Under the beautification plan, a green belt was developed there and the portraits of national heroes and prominent local figures in the fields of art, culture and literature were painted on portions of the wall.

In January 2020, the monument was renovated when the government had picked Gujrat, along with 19 other cities for a competition in connection with the Clean and Green Pakistan Index (CGPI). However, for the last many months it was ignored by the authorities.

Deputy Commissioner Saif Anwar, who is also administrator of Gujrat MC, told Dawn that the civic agency had initiated a drive aimed at the rehabilitation of public parks, greenbelts, monuments and historical sites of the city in continuity of the government’s ‘Clean and Green’ initiative.

Published in Dawn, December 13th, 2020